Memphis CBP personnel detail drug seizure efforts

Memphis, Tennessee, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel said the division has seized 2,509 pounds of drugs since the beginning of this fiscal year.

China, Mexico, and Brazil are among the countries of origin for the contraband, which includes fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, DMT, marijuana, prescription opioids, and steroids.

“Every shift, my officers and agriculture specialists are preventing shipments of dangerous narcotics, invasive pests, and other contraband from reaching their recipients in your neighborhood,” Memphis Area Port Director Michael Neipert said. “Sending narcotics via express consignment makes the carriers unwitting transporters. When fentanyl is shipped from Mexico to Massachusetts, you are putting everyone who handles it at risk: the pilots, drivers, sorters, all the way until it reaches the doorstep of the consignee, unless, of course, we find it first.”

According to the Memphis CBP, officers have found drugs in shoes, in ceramics, within the sides of cardboard boxes, furniture, chips, soups, and baked into bread, among other transport methods. In the first month of this year, personnel seized almost 1,000 pounds of narcotics.

CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo while searching for narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other products possessing the potential to harm the public, businesses, and national safety.